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Autism Briefing on Monday 14th November

autism briefing

 

Grace Eyre will be hosting an Autism Briefing with a guest speaker from Autism Sussex. This is a free briefing and will take place on Monday 14th November between 10am and 3pm at Grace Eyre, Montefiore Road, Hove.

 

 

Please save the date in your diary – more details to follow.

 

 

Reported by: Maxine Burgess, Grace Eyre Foundation

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Wellington House Open House Rated Third Best at 2011 Brighton Festival

Working together paid off as ‘Open House’efforts have been acknowledged by The Latest magazine, which rated Wellington House third of the 209 open houses short-listsed for their Best Open House award.

Wellington House, on Wellington Street, Brighton, is part of the ‘Day Options’ service run by dedicated staff from the council's Adult Social Care Team. They work hard to provide exciting and innovative daytime opportunities for people with learning disabilities.


As part of Brighton Festival, the exhibition has opened every weekend throughout May displaying various collections which include artwork from:

  • the artists’ collective ‘Our Art’ showing an exhibition entitled ‘Our history in 100 objects’
  • members of ‘Outside In’, which brings together marginalised and outsider artists
  • ‘Trees are big II’, a collection of sculptures and 3D works by local group Primpot
  • the Academy of Creative Training and well known local artist John Cull


Pictured artwork by Deidre Waller, 'The Windy Wave Boat'.

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Brightpart Now Has a Job Board!

The website for the Brighton & Hove Learning Disability Partnership Board now includes a free job board.  Using the job board is easy.  There is a link to the job board at the top of every brightpart page.

When you arrive at the jobs page you see a list of jobs listed with the most recent first. If you would like to advertise all you need to do is register. Registration takes five minutes, is free and easy. The site is entirely self service – how you use it is up to you, but it will be particularly useful to social care providers and for people looking for a career working with people with learning disabilities.

 The job board has been produced by the Workforce Development Sub Group to support employers in recruiting and attracting staff, and to attract the workforce of the future.

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Forest View Adapted Holiday Home

Forest View holiday home is a brand new, fully accessible and adapted caravan based in the New Forest.  It was purchased in May 2010 from money for ‘Aiming High for Disabled Children’ and already 13 families have stayed for a break.

caravan

Please help advertise the Forest View Holiday Home to families, service users and staff teams

The Holiday Home is available at a hugely discounted price to children & adults with a disability or special needs and their families in Brighton and Hove.  Staff and colleagues can also book the caravan at a discounted cost – the holiday home is a non-profit venture and all income is used to cover essential costs and charges.

Copies of brochures can be requested on the Forest View email address or from Lynda Pettigrew on 01273 295530. 

Forestview@brighton.hove.gov.uk

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CQC Says Brighton & Hove Does Well

Adult social care services in Brighton & Hove are doing a good job of safeguarding vulnerable adults and offering people with learning disabilities more choice and control over the services they receive.

An inspection by the national Care Quality Commission in 2010 found that the council is performing well in both these areas, and that the outlook for future improvements is promising.

Inspectors said the packages of care provided were of a good quality and were valued by the people receiving them. The adult social care team had:

  • given a high profile to issues of dignity and tackling discrimination, harassment and hate crime
  • done a good job in consulting with people who use services and enabling them to have a say in how they are planned and delivered
  • a good track record of using resources effectively and focusing on value for money
  • produced good quality leaflets and information packs for people with learning disabilities
  • worked well with the local NHS and the voluntary sector to make sure services are available for people who need them.

The council’s cabinet member for adult social care and health, Councillor Ken Norman, said: “I’m delighted the inspectors have recognised so many of our strengths in these areas but I realise that there will always be room for further improvement."

“We will continue working to help vulnerable people understand better what they can do to keep themselves safe, and provide clearer information to people who want to take control of the care services they need.”

You can read the full report and the easier to read version of the report on the CQC website

After the inspection the council planned some improvements. The council presented their improvement plan at the Adult Social Care cabinet member's meeting on 18th October. 

You can see the whole improvement plan by going to the webpage for that meeting and scrolling down to item 26 http://present.brighton-hove.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=151&MId=2776

or you can read our CQC Improvement Plan - LD summary

 

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Catering for a brighter future

Diane Howell and Foad Djabbari are among eight people with learning disabilities in Brighton & Hove who have successfully completed a nationally accredited catering training course. The Entry Level Certificate in Skills for Working Life is a joint project between the council and Nourish, a local social enterprise.

The training is adapted to meet the needs of people with learning disabilities. It gives people the skills, experience and confidence they need to help them progress into further education or supported employment. The course also helps people develop personal and inter-personal skills that can make a big difference to their quality of life.

To get hands-on experience Diane and Foad have been working with FEAST, a training and work experience group run by the council’s learning disabilities team that provides catering for training and other events. Diane plans to develop her role within FEAST and help new recruits to learn the skills they need. Foad is now looking for a job in catering.

Brighton & Hove City Council leader Mary Mears said: “This course gives people not just new skills but also confidence in their abilities. We are now working with Nourish on possible career pathways for people who complete the course.”

A celebration event for the eight successful students and their parents and carers will be held on Friday 9 April from 11am to 12.30pm at 'My Hotel' in Jubilee Street, Brighton.

Foad and Diane have completed their entry level certificate in catering

 

Foad Djabbari and Diane Howell, who have successfully completed the Entry Level Certificate in Skills for Working Life catering course

 

 

 

 

 

Students Foad and Diane with teacher Les

 

 

 

Successful catering course students Foad Djabbari and Diane Howell are pictured with catering instructor Les Mamoany

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Oska Bright

Please come to our 5th Festival at our brand new venue – Brighton Dome’s Corn Exchange – at the heart of the arts scene in Brighton. We are very excited that our Festival will be in such a great building.

The Festival starts on Tuesday the 22nd November 2011 and ends on Thursday 24th November with our fabulous Awards ceremony.

We have made a new Digital Media show with lots of people from across Brighton. Come and see during our Festival, it will be on the side of the Corn Exchange every evening and inside in a smaller cinema during the day. Book your tickets here: http://www.oskabright.co.uk/index.php?s=filmfestival

We look forward to seeing you at Oska Bright 2011!

Best wishes

 

The Oska Bright Steering Committee

 The website www.oskabright.co.uk has full information or you can call on 01273 234 734 or email oskabright@carousel.org.uk for information

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Special Olympics Athletes Successes - August 2009

athletes-athletes

A team of local athletes with learning disabilities has returned from the Special Olympics weighed down with medals.

The Special Olympics GB Summer Games took place in Leicester and saw 2,700 athletes represent 19 Special Olympics regions across the UK.

In all, 21 athletes from the Special Olympics Brighton and Hove team took part and came home with 23 medals including 8 gold medals.

Grace Eyre – a Brighton-based charity that provides a wide range and support to adults with learning disabilities – in partnership with Special Olympics Brighton and Hove coordinated training for a team of talented sportsmen and women.

The athletes competed in a number of events including swimming, power lifting, 10-pin bowls, indoor bowls, golf and football.  As well as the amazing results, all the athletes thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to participate and compete in such a large and well organised event.

One of the coaches, Heather Ellis, summed it up “All athletes did well in their sports and overall we achieved an amazing result.  We are now training for the next Olympics in four years time and other competitions in the interim.”

They were honoured by the Mayor, Ann Norman today, Friday 14th August at a Reception at Brighton Town Hall

Reported by: Eva Jarvis, Chair - Special Olympics

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Bus Passes for Adults with Learning Disabilities

Audlts with learning disabilities are entitled to a free bus pass because of their disability.  Details are on the council's website at: http://www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/index.cfm?request=c1132726

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No Library fees for CDs and DVDs

Brighton & Hove Libraries

People with learning disabilities are exempt from paying the hire fees for audio-visual items like CDs and DVDs. Many people with learning disabilities already receive this exemption.  However, there may be some people who are paying the hire fees because the library staff are not aware that the person is entitled to the exemption.

To confirm a person's eligibility for the exemption library staff can phone the Community Learning Disability Team on 295550.  If the applicant gets their social services from a different local authority, and not from Brighton & Hove, then the library staff will contact that other authority for the confirmation.

The exemption is permanently noted on the person’s library card file so the phone call is only needed once for each person, and only for people who are not already getting the exemption. 

If people want to check their library record or, as existing library members, want to register a request for an exemption, they can contact Alan Issler who is the Neighbourhood and Enterprise Manager, based at the Jubilee Library -alan.issler@brighton-hove.gov.uk 01273 296948. Alan is very busy so contact by e-mail might be quicker.

The library service want to minimise any concerns that people may have about any access issues and they would welcome proposals from the Partnership Board as to how to ensure that both their access arrangements and general service delivery meets the needs of people with a learning disability.

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this page was last updated on: 25 August 2011